The Katha Chest

The Katha Chest by Radhiah Chowdhury and Illustrated by Lavanya Naidu (Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022) Asiyah learns her family history through her grandmother’s chest of richly patterned katha quilts, hand-stitched from layers of repurposed, memory-laden, sari fabric. Asiyah’s tale is accompanied by wordless story panels that reveal their Bengali cultural history. These panels resemble a family photo album, reminiscent of Pattachitra, cloth-based narrative scroll paintings. (Preschool-Grade 3)